Grace
by Lucy Labrador
Summary: There's a young girl on the ARK that really wants to make friends with the dark hedgehog in the cryogenic tank.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

A small girl put her palms on the clear glass in front of her, tainting it with her fingerprints. But this was but a small blemish upon a large surface. On the other side of the glass was a creature, black and red. It's eyes were closed and its fur looked at if it was soft to touch. It was wearing gloves and shoes, which confused the girl. She didn't know anyone who took a bath in their clothes, she also didn't know anyone who wore their daytime clothes to bed. The creature inside of the tank was doing both. He was a strange creature to her. But not because he looked different to her own kind… the fact that he was a different species didn't seem to bother her. After all, the hedgehog was as small as her, and as friendly looking as a kitty cat. The girl guessed that the 'kitty' inside of the tank wasn't like the other kitties she'd seen around the ARK, he looked like he grew and acted like a human, therefore… it must have been five years old like her. Or it was just the biggest pet she'd ever seen.

The girl tapped on the glass, but the creature inside of it didn't stir. She wanted to wake it up; she wanted to talk to it; she wanted it to be her friend. She didn't have any other friends since she'd come to the ARK.

"Kitty!" she cried out and banged on the glass with her chubby fists. Still nothing.

"Grace!"

The girl turned around quickly to see an adult standing at the door. He had a stern expression on their face, that was almost buried in their long, white labcoat and protective head a face gear.

"What did I tell you about coming in here?"

The girl twiddled her thumbs and looked at the floor with a sad and guilty expression.

"I got you plenty of animals sent from Earth, you can play with those," the man said coldly. "Now go." He pointed to the side, this was the girl's que to leave. She didn't, instead, she gave a pout of resistance. "Grace!" The man yelled.

The girl, Grace, put her hands to her face and ran out of the room. She pushed past her elder and ran down the corridor with tears streaming down her face. The adult shook his head disapprovingly, then pressed a pad on the wall by the door frame. A metal door slid down, locking the creature and it's tank inside of it. He bent down as he noticed a long wooden spoon on the floor underneath the keypad.

"Scott, was she trying to get to Project Shadow again?"

The man, Scott, turned around and saw a colleague jogging his way. He sighed, pulling his goggles off of his head.

"Yes," he said irately as he waved the spoon frustratedly. "I've done everything I can to make her lose interest but, she won't leave it alone."

"What are you going to do now?" the colleague asked. Scott rubbed the stubble on his chin inquisitively.

"I don't know, what do you think?" Scott asked.

"No clue, but good luck!" the colleague asked, then ran past him. "I've got somewhere to be. See ya' later."

Scott frowned and looked in the direction his colleague had run… that's also the way his daughter had run.

"Grace Robotnik, if you keep this level of trouble up, I'm going to be fired," he grumbled under his breath. Fired, was an understatement.

A few days later, Grace tried to sneak her way into the forbidden room again. This time, she pulled a chair up to the keypad while her father and all other scientists were at work. When she climbed on the chair and stood on her tiptoes, she could reach the keypad. That's when she looked at it, brushed her hair blonde hair out of her face swiftly, and pressed the letter keys on it.

"M… A… R.."

"STOP!"

Grace turned her head to see a man in military uniform run towards her. She noticed the gun on his belt, then cowered, curling up on the chair like the child she was. She felt someone shake her shoulder.

"You've been told not to do that," the soldier said sternly. "How many times now?"

Grace looked up at him fearfully, uncurling from her fetal position. She slowly counted on her fingers… when she got to all ten fingers, she jumped off the chair and ran.

"Exactly. More than enough times! Stop messing with Project SHADOW!" the soldier yelled after her. "Those Robotniks are going to get fired and then some if they don't keep that kid under control…" he grumbled under his breath.

Grace ran as fast as she could. She looked behind her as she ran, to check for the soldier; he wasn't chasing her. But, she did bump into the legs of someone rather tall. The small girl was knocked back a few steps. She looked up as she stumbled, it was her father, with his ginger face and head, and eyes hidden by glasses.

"Grace, you're weren't messing with project Shadow, were you?" he asked rather ominously, while looking down on her sternly.

"N-no, daddy!" she stuttered.

"Let's go see then, shall we? What am I going to find by the door today? A tea set?" he said in a soft but stern voice. He picked her up under her arms without warning and put her over his shoulder. the small girl grabbed onto her father's shirt and accepted her fate. They reached the door to project Shadow. "Oh, a chair this time," he commented.

"I wasn't using it to open the door; I was just sitting outside," Grace said as innocently as possible. Scott put her down gently and looked at her sadly. He stayed bent down so he could speak to her face.

"Grace… I'll get into huge trouble if you keep doing this," Scott said softly. "That Project SHADOW, isn't a kitty." Grace looked annoyed and offended at this.

"He is!" she cried out. "He has ears and fur just like them! He's a kitty, and he's a better kitty than the rubbish kitties I have. I don't want those kitties, I want that one!" she frantically pointed at the door. "My kitties don't give hugs! That kitty does!"

"And, how would you know that?" Scott asked her skeptically.

"He has arms to hug with," Grace said in protest. "And he'll hug me alll the time and tell me bedtime stories!"

"He won't do that, he's living weap-"

"He'll do more than you do!" Grace screamed at the top of her voice, getting up in her father's face as much as possible, then she turned around ran. She turned the corner before her father could catch up with her, then leapt inside a closet and hid behind the boxes. She peeped out every so often, waiting for her father to run after her… she hoped he would.

She waited and waited… but he didn't come. He hadn't bothered to chase after her. Grace curled up on the floor and thought the worst. He… didn't love her; he didn't care; he cared more about his work, and there was nothing anyone could say to convince her otherwise. The kitty in the see-through bath would understand, and he would do everything her father never did, and more. The creature would be the best of friends… if only she could free him.

Grace sat up, and felt a strong sense of determination. She looked out for any adults that would tell her to get back to her room, then ran back down the corridor. The chair was still there. She jumped up onto it. The password was still half typed out.

"I… A." The door lifted itself open. Grace jumped off the chair, then dragged it into the room. Before she did anything else, she pushed the chair over to the side of the doorframe on the inside of the room. The wood scraped against the metal quite loudly, but Grace had move it so she couldn't get caught. She climbed up and typed out the password again; the door closed behind her. No one would guess that she was inside.

Grace ran up to the cryo-chamber and put her hands against it as she looked closely at the creature inside. Then she leant over to look at the buttons on the side of the machine. There was yet another keypad to press a password onto. It was easy… she'd already typed it in at least a hundred times before.

"M… A…R… I… A…"

There was a click from the machine, and then a hiss. Grace stumbled to her feet and ran backwards in fear, she wasn't expecting that to happen. She nervously grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and tugged at it while she watched the machine work guiltily.

Steam filled the room, it reminded Grace of when the grown ups took hot showers. She wondered if the kitty in the bath has decided to take a shower instead. There was a loud humming sound as the machine seemed to move. Behind the long layer of steam, Grace could make out a dark figure falling out of the machine and landing on its feet. The steam hadn't even cleared away, but Grace could already see red eyes, almost glowing at her through the fog.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Thank you for freeing me, my master-" a dull, masculine voice came, but Grace paid no attention. She ran up to the escapee and latched onto him with a hug.

"Kitty! You're free!" she squealed. The creature breathed in suddenly, he wasn't wasn't expecting this.

"Y-you're… a child…" he sounded surprised and almost disappointed.

"I'm five! How old are you?" Grace said cheerily as she pulled back slightly and looked at the creature's face.

"That's irrelevant," he said bluntly. "What's going on-"

"Do you have a name, kitty?" Grace asked enthusiastically. Said 'kitty' closed his eyes and sighed.

"It's Shadow…" he said miserably and looked away with an annoyed expression.

"My name's Grace!" she chirped. "Let's be best friends."

"I don't think it works like that," Shadow said stoically as he glanced at her. He seemed to wince at the sight of her; he turned his head away.

"What's wrong, kitty?" Grace asked him innocently as she patted his head. "Do you want me to pet you?"

"There's no point in asking, you went ahead and did it anyway," Shadow mumbled under his breath. "Nothing."

"You look sad!"

"It's really nothing," Shadow said firmly. "You wouldn't understand, anyway. You're just a child."

"I'm nearly six!" Grace said proudly. "That's this many years!" she held out all fingers on one hand, and the index finger on the other. "I 'understand'." She seemed to struggle with that word.

"Sure…" Shadow said quietly, not sounding impressed, "Ever heard of bereavement?" He hardly made his words clear, seeing no point in trying.

"I heard that word loads when mummy died…" Grace said sadly. "Daddy had to leave work for two whole days because of it."

"Huh!" Shadow said, he'd been taken by surprise. "Well, I'm suffering from the same thing, but I still haven't been given any time off 'work.', to put it simply."

"Was it your mummy?" Grace said sadly, tears forming in her innocent blue eyes. Her lip pouted and quivered.

"No, but I was close to her…" Shadow said, he darted his eyes away, unable to look at the crying child. "Stop that. You're making me uncomfortable."

Grace didn't fulfil that request, instead, she started sobbing. Shadow pushed the child off of him and stood up.

"Stop…" Shadow said frustratedly and covered his face with his hand. "Damn, I shouldn't have opened my big mouth." He looked all around the room. "Kid… where are we?"

"In your room…" Grace said shakily, trying not to cry while she spoke.

"And… where is 'my room'?" Shadow asked and grit his teeth irritably.

"The ARK," Grace said. Shadow sighed sadly.

"I thought so…" he whispered to himself. "They said I'd go back here- kid, who else is here?" He suddenly spoke up and turned to Grace.

"Stop calling me that! I'm Grace!"

"Grace…" Shadow said through his teeth. "Who else is here?"

"Everyone is! Daddy, the other sciencey people… and those people with guns…" Grace said as she put her finger to the side of her mouth in thought. Shadow suddenly looked at the door fearfully.

"Did they tell you to free me by any chance?" he asked as he looked at Grace tensely.

"No, kitty… they told me not to, but I wanted you!" Grace exclaimed and ran over to him. She hugged him tightly again.

"Kitty?" Shadow grumbled. "I'm a hedgehog."

Grace pulled back to look at Shadow properly.

"No, you're wrong!" she protested. "You have ears, just like the other kitties I have."

"Many creatures have ears like mine…" Shadow said annoyedly.

"And your fluffy belly!" she said and ruffled the white fur on Shadow's chest. "It looks just like my second kitty!"

"How many… 'kitties' do you have?" Shadow asked hesitantly as he began sweating from the forehead.

"Umm... " she began counting on her fingers until she held up all ten, then gave up. "Loads!"

Shadow pulled away, suddenly feeling a lot more uncomfortable than before.

"I need to go," he said urgently.

"You need to go? The litter box is this way," Grace said and tugged on his arm as she ran towards the door. Shadow firmly stood in his spot, causing Grace to stumble slightly. "Come on!" she whined.

"No. I meant I need to leave," Shadow said firmly. "I need to get out of here now."

"Why?" Grace asked sadly.

"You don't understand what the 'sciencey people' and 'people with guns' will do to me if they find me," Shadow said as he air quoted. "Do you have any idea why I was put in here in the first place?"

Grace shook her head silently.

"So you don't understand how much trouble I'm in," Shadow said. "And if I finally want to be free, I need to get out now!"

"GRACE!?"

Shadow looked at the door in surprise and tensed up even more. He looked at Grace pleadingly.

"Oh, Daddy's looking for me," Grace said cheerily, feeling overjoyed that he hadn't abandoned her forever then took in a deep breath before she called at the top of her voice."Daddy!"

"Grace…" Shadow hissed.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot I was meant to keep this a secret," Grace said guiltily.

"Grace, you're in there again!?" Scott cried out from outside. "I'm going to be in huge trouble if keep doing this."

"I won't it anymore Daddy, I promise!" Grace called out excitedly. There was the sound of fast beeping, as someone was typing on the keypad outside. Grace looked at Shadow, who watched the door with wide eyes and breathed shallowly, he suddenly seemed very afraid.

"What's wrong, kitty?" Grace suddenly asked ignorantly as she looked at door hissed open, and Scott was standing before them. He looked down at Shadow in a shocked manner and gasped.

"You freed Project SHADOW?" he whispered harshly. He ran inside and attempted to close the door behind him, but Shadow pulled his hand out of Grace's grip and sped out of the room first. "Oh, Chaos! Grace, do you realise that you've done!?" his voice squeaked with fear.

"I've found a new kitty who cares about me more than you do!" Grace screamed and ran after Shadow. But before she could even get around the corner, there were the sound of laser shots and a cry of pain… it sounded like. "KITTY!" she ran around the corner to see Shadow on the floor, holding his arm in pain as a soldier kept him to the floor by standing on the hedgehog's back.

"I told you…" Shadow hissed. "This isn't a game…"

Scott arrived on the scene, and looked at the GUN soldiers fearfully.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know she was in the room again!" Scott cried out in a rather cowardly manner.

"Didn't you, Mr Robotnik? Or were you trying to awaken your predecessor's creation all along?" asked one of the men standing before him. His uniform was different to the rest… he was a GUN official of some sort. "How did your daughter even know how to access Project SHADOW in the first place?"

"It was easy! MARIA!" Grace cried out.

"That's how you get into the room, but how did you access the machine?" Scott asked firmly as he looked down at her.

"MARIA!" she cried out. "All you have to do is type in 'Maria'." She noticed that Shadow looked very sad all of a sudden, all aggression was gone from his face.

"That's the security mechanism that was used to seal Project SHADOW?" the GUN official exclaimed angrily. Then looked at Grace sternly. "Hmm… I suppose you can be let off. However…"

He turned to Scott.

"As punishment for not disciplining your daughter… you will be disciplined instead," he said. Scott looked at his superior in distress. "Men, seal the hedgehog up again." A couple of the soldiers picked Shadow up by his arms and dragged him the way he'd come. The hedgehog didn't bother to fight back, it seemed he'd been injured too much to move.

"We'll also be changing the password to that room," the GUN official said as he followed his soldiers. He had his hands placed behind his back, walking in quite an arrogant manner. "And Scott, be in my office in thirty minutes."

Scott covered his face with his hands as he held back a scream of frustration and fear.

"Grace…" he growled. Grace whimpered. Scott removed his hands from his face and looked down at her sadly, aggression suddenly gone. "Don't worry, this was all my fault. Now go to your room… before we get into more trouble."

"Will you be able to read me a story tonight?" Grace squeaked.

"Probably not…" Scott said bluntly and walked down the corridor, leaving behind. The small girl began sobbing as she ran the opposite direction towards her room, which was about a five minutes walk away in the large ARK.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"I can't believe I did that when I was five…" Grace said embarrassedly. She looked a lot older, in her early teens. She'd gotten a lot taller and thinned out. Her blonde hair curled and sat on her shoulders. "Oh Chaos, we could have been done for."

"Yes… but I got off rather lightly," Scott, who looked more middle aged than young adult.

Nearly ten years had passed since Grace met Shadow. She thought about him an awful lot, and how good of a friend he probably could have been if he were allowed to stay. Suddenly, there was a deafening knock on the door of the small bedroom they were sitting in.

"Robotnik! Come out here right now!"

Grace squeaked quietly.

"Shh…" Scott hushed as quietly as possible. "I'm not here, okay?"

Grace mouthed a fearful 'why?'. There was another bang, then silence. The two of them listened out for footsteps, which soon came. Their rude visitor was gone.

"Why didn't you answer?" Grace asked.

"That was the General… and I can't stand to face him right now. He's been an asshole to me lately," Scott said.

"Dad… you'll get into trouble," Grace said worriedly.

"I'll get into more trouble if he actually finds me," Scott said. He stood up. "Well, I need to be at work in ten minutes, so I'd better go." He began walking to the door.

"When do you get off?"

"Ten hours from now," Scott said as stopped by the door and sighed exasperatedly. Grace looked down sadly. He walked back over to her and patted her on the back. "We can spend more time together soon, I promise."

"I just get this feeling of urgency… like we're running out of time," Grace said.

"Don't be silly… whatever do you mean?" Scott asked assuringly.

"I know why we're imprisoned here, Dad…" Grace said. "And… they seem to be more and more harsh at us."

"Oh, Grace…" Scott said softly and rubbed her back as if to calm her. "There's nothing we can do about it."

"Please don't get yourself fired…" she pleaded. "Don't push it, Dad. I've seen you get into trouble a lot before… I'm worried that if you keep pushing it, we'll be done for!"

"Shh…" Scott said and pulled her into his chest as Grace began to cry. "It'll be fine. It won't come to that… I promise." He looked dead into space, feeling unsure about his words. "They can't punish us just because of a few crazy fools."

"They already are…" Grace said hopelessly and pulled away. She curled up on her bed and closed her eyes depressedly.

"It doesn't mean we can't have a good time…" Scott said. "I'll be back later… and we can talk all about it, okay?"

Grace nodded silently, but other than that, stayed still and silent. Scott left quickly, he was already running late.

"We're prisoners… just like that poor hedgehog…" she whispered to herself when she was all alone and fell silent again as she fell asleep.

She awoke to the sound of shouting. She shot up and sat straight. Suddenly, Scott bust into the room and shut the door behind him in a hurry. He looked terrified.

"Dad!?" Grace cried out.

"I've been fired," he breathed.

"What!?"

"That's why the General wanted to see me earlier," Scott said urgently, then swallowed hard and closed his eyes as he began trembling and sweating all over. "I'm screwed."

"Y-you said earlier that..." Grace said through her constricted throat. "You… promised…" Her eyes stung with tears. There was a loud bang on the door.

"You have five minutes to pack your things!" a harsh, deep voice sounded.

"The General…" Grace breathed in fear.

"That girl is going with you!"

Grace's eyes widened in even more fear.

"DAD!" she cried out.

"No! Grace isn't getting punished for my actions!" Scott boomed. "I won't let you take her!"

"Until she's a legal adult, she has to stay with her parents… and you're her last parent. So, she's coming. And if you don't comply… we'll start shooting." He ended on an ominous note.

"Okay!" Scott cried out in a cowardly manner.

"Four minutes!" the General yelled.

Scott ran over to Grace, who was shaking profoundly and crying her eyes out. He took her daughter's hand and tried to calm her down.

"Grace… we're going to go on a little holiday-"

"Don't fucking lie to me! I'm not a child!" Grace yelled, she pulled her hand away. "I warned you! And here we are!"

"I'll get us out of this, I promise," Scott said, but he was swiftly rejected.

"No! You keep promising things that never happen!" Grace screamed. She stood up, pushed past him, and ran out of the room. She looked left and right frantically to realise that the General wasn't outside the door anymore, in fact, no one was. She ran down the corridor as fast as she could. She wasn't going to let herself get taken away, she'd heard of other members of her family getting taken away. She had no idea of where they went, but it certainly wasn't a good thing when it happened.

Her family had been forcefully imprisoned on the ARK, ever since the creator of it, and several generations after him proved to be a threat to mankind. It seemed that many agreed that the Robotniks were bad news to society. But they were wrong, it was only a select few of them. A lot of them may have been geniuses, but only a few of them were evil ones.

Grace didn't know where to go. She just kept running and running, feeling more and more liberated the longer she ran. It reminded her of the stories she'd been told about one of her great-great uncles and their fights with a blue hedgehog that also liked to run. The blue hedgehog was apparently a hero… something she needed urgently at that moment.

Suddenly, she felt an urge to stop running. She turned to her right to see the door, that very door that changed her life forever. She ran over to it and looked closely at the keypad. She bit her lip urgently as she typed in the password she'd always known.

"M-A-R-I-A," she typed as quickly as possible. The screen flashed red. "They changed it!" she remembered, not believing she could have forgotten something so obvious during her moment of panic. She began to think, but her mind was racing. "H-E-L-P." she typed in. The screen flashed red again. She stomped her foot in frustration. "What is it?" she hissed and banged her hand against the wall. Then she swallowed hard as she thought of something… it was a long shot.

"G...R...A...C...E…" The keypad flashed green and beeped, then the door opened. She ran inside, and typed the same code on the inside, it closed behind her. Then she looked to the cryo-tank behind her.

"Shadow…" she breathed. There he was; she hadn't seen the hedgehog in ten whole years. The childhood idol… the five minute friend. Grace had found herself looking to him again… because now, more than ever before, she really needed that friend.

Grace admired the hedgehog for a few moments, making the most of the moment of silence. There was a soft humming coming from the machine. The hedgehog floated in the liquid soundlessly. His eyes were closed, it looked as if he was resting. But there was a sense of uneasiness in his facial expression, which was fitting, because Grace knew that he'd been put there unwillingly by GUN, as she and her father was about to be put in a new place unwillingly. The teenage girl slowly walked over to the panel on the right side of the machine. She bent down and typed in the password slowly, hoping with all her might that it was the same as the one on the door.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"G-R-A-C-E."

The machine began hissing again. Grace took a few steps back warily and watched as the machine, hidden behind a blanket of steam, tipped forward and drained, itself of all the liquid; the fluid drained somewhere unseen. The steam began to fade and and the creature dropped out just like before.

"Thank you for releasing me, my master… in return for freeing me, I will grant you one wish," Shadow said seriously as he stood up straight. Grace stood silently, as if her nerves had gotten the better of her.

"Umm…" she trembled. The steam cleared even more, to reveal the hedgehog to be folding his arms and looking at her impatiently. Then, his eyes widened.

"You…" he said and looked her up and down in awe. "Grace?"

"Shadow…" Grace said desperately and burst into tears as she ran up to him. She fell onto her knees and hugged him tightly.

"That wish doesn't happen to involve being your pet, does it?" Shadow asked, not sounding impressed.

"No! It involves saving me and my dad!" Grace said urgently as she stepped back, but kept her hands on Shadow's puny shoulders. "They want to take us away somewhere… probably to a prison of some kind."

"Why?" Shadow asked.

"Because we're robotniks…" she said and bit her lip sadly. Shadow looked down in thought.

"That's absurd…" Shadow said.

"Yeah, we're not all bad. Just Gerald and Ivo and a couple of others after them…." she said sadly. Shadow tensed up.

"What?" Shadow snapped, he looked at Grace with pupils shrunk in anger. Grace let go of him and stepped back. "What did you say about Gerald?"

"He… tried to destroy the world... he was evil," Grace said timidly.

"Wrong," Shadow said. "He was good, and GUN drove him insane by unjustly killing everyone he cared about."

"Oh…. I… didn't know that…" Grace said quietly.

"Be careful about what your own kind tells you…" Shadow grumbled. "Your family isn't as bad as they tell you. 'Ivo', was insane, yes… but… the rest were good… like… Maria."

"Maria?" Grace said, Shadow had piqued her interest. "That name comes up everywhere. Tell me about her."

"No. I'd rather not go into the subject," Shadow said. "Now, that wish."

"Help us," Grace said. "Please."

"So, you say that GUN are trying to imprison you and your father for who you are?" Shadow asked.

"I… haven't even mentioned GUN yet…" Grace said in surprise.

"You didn't need to. They seem to have a grudge against your family and I," Shadow said and closed his eyes in stress. "I… didn't expect them to be capture me again. I failed to foresee an improvement in their technology." He hissed in shame. "I'm an idiot."

"Aww, don't say that…" Grace said caringly, she reached her hand to pat Shadow on the head. Shadow sensed it coming and batted it out of the way.

"There's no time for pity," he said quickly. "I'll escort you out of here."

"We need to find Dad first-"

"We can't," Shadow said. "I'm not looking around for him and risking your life in the process."

"Why? Why do you care about my life specifically?" Grace asked, sounding offended. She really didn't want to leave without her father.

"Because I've already failed at this once," Shadow said and grabbed her wrist. "I'm not failing again." His eyes narrowed in determination as he raised his free hand. He threw his arm downwards, and a projectile formed in his hand.

"Wait, I can unlock the door," Grace stopped him. "We don't want to draw attention."

"Right," Shadow said. His energy orb fizzled out and he let his hand drop to his side. He'd felt a little too eager to jump into action. Grace typed in the code again and the door hissed open.

"Alright, where is the observation room?" Shadow asked.

"I think it's that way…" Grace said and pointed a shaky finger to the right side of the corridor. Shadow ran that way at a pace Grace could keep up with. Shadow turned a few corners before he began to recognise his surroundings.

"Nearly there," Shadow said under his breath. "I'm not going to fail you again, Maria…"

Grace wanted to question what he was mumbling about, but she was too afraid, she was running too fast, and she was in too tense of a situation to make her words come out of her mouth. She could hardly think straight.

"Damn, hurry up," Shadow said to her as he pulled her through the door of the observation room. Just as he was about to close the the door, there was was the sound of a laser shot. Grace fell to the floor. Shadow looked down at her in shock as the metal door slid shut, a little too late. "No."

Grace didn't know what or how to feel. It was really happening. She was dying. But Shadow wouldn't believe this, he wanted to save her.

"We're going to earth, and I'm getting you medical help," Shadow said. "You're not going to die on me. Not again." His teeth were gritted, and tears began to form in his eyes. He bent down and picked Grace up, cradling her in his arms. He carried her over to the control panel for the escape pods. It hadn't changed much since the last time Shadow had to do this. He grit his teeth even harder when he realised that he couldn't reach the buttons and levers at the top of the highly placed surface. It certainly wasn't made for sapients like him. Shadow bent down and shook Grace. "Can you reach it for me?" he asked, then looked away in shame. The ultimate life form, was beaten by the high shelf. Grace nodded forcibly, then stumbled to get up, but she was quickly losing blood and strength.

They both turned to the door as they heard more shots of a laser. The soldiers were trying to get inside. Shadow pulled at Graces shirt, to push her to hurry up. But Graces vision was blurry, and she couldn't concentrate with the bullet in her chest.

"Please… I need to get you out of here-"

Shadow was cut off as the door was shot at once more, and forced open. The lasers must have overridden the panel on the side of it. The hedgehog closed his eyes tightly as he realised what was going to happen. More laser shots resonated through the air, and he felt himself getting pushed backwards. He stumbled, until he hit glass. When he opened his eyes, he noticed that he'd been trapped in the escape pod at the exact moment he'd hit the right spot. He looked to Grace with wide eyes.

"NO!" he cried out and banged on the glass. "Why do you have to be so selfless!" The escape pod was shot at, and soldiers attempted to pry Grace off of the lever she was holding, but only pulled the lever back in the process and Shadow fell. "D-damn it…" he said and fell to his knees.

History had repeated itself… with Grace.


End file.
